Home & Contents Insurance

Find Home & Contents Insurance from our referral partners' below*

*iSelect does not provide a comparison service but a click through service for home and contents insurance. See below for our range of home and contents insurers. Our advice on this website is of general nature and does not consider your situation or needs. Consider if any advice is appropriate for you before acting on it. Learn more.

Our range of Home and Contents partners

Youi

With Youi, you can expect great value, award-winning home insurance backed by great service. They’ll listen, ask the right questions, then work with you to provide the cover you want.

Building, Contents and Landlord

2019 National winner of MOZO People’s Choice Award
for Excellent Claims Experience in Home Insurance

Access to YouiRewards, providing discounts at over
1000 partners across Australia

Only one excess to pay per event if you have more than one Youi policy

Dedicated claims team available 24/7 to support you from start to finish

CHU

CHU is one of Australia's largest and most awarded insurance underwriting agencies, offering insurance tailor made for apartments and units. Their comprehensive insurance means you don’t need to purchase optional extras to ensure you’re covered.

This handy calculator estimates the replacement cost of your home contents using information supplied by Sum Insured Pty Ltd, Australia's leading provider of building contents cost information.

Get the facts on home & contents insurance

Get the facts on home & contents insurance

Do I need home & contents insurance?

If you’re a homeowner, home & contents insurance is one of the most important types of cover you can buy. Without it, you may be left to foot the bill for expensive but necessary repairs to your building, or have to pay thousands of dollars to replace your stolen or damaged valuables.

What is contents insurance?

Are there different types of contents insurance?

While all contents insurance policies are designed to do one thing – protect the contents in your home – there is no one-size-fits all approach to your cover. You can tailor your contents policy to meet your needs by adding optional extras for a higher premium.

Do I need contents insurance while renting?

Some renters may mistakenly believe their valuables are covered under their landlord’s insurance policy. Or perhaps some simply think, “It won’t happen to me.” Yet one in 15 Australians will file a claim on their Home and Contents insurance each year – that’s nearly 720,000 claims.

Frequently asked questions

How much is home and contents insurance?

The price of home and contents insurance will vary depending on a range of factors, including: your policy type, insurance provider, the value of your home and contents, and even more granular details such as the location of your home, the materials used to build your home, and other risks to your property. Risks to your property can include things such as known weather events in your area, eg: floods, bushfires.
With iSelect, you can fill out our simple form and get home and contents quotes from our range of providers in a matter of minutes. This will allow you to compare policies side by side, and select the one which suits you.

What is landlord insurance vs home insurance?

Landlord insurance and home insurance are very similar products, however landlord insurance offers a number of additional services to help protect your investment. Home insurance, also known as building insurance, covers you against risks from fire, flood, storms and other natural disasters. It usually includes coverage for the following items:

Fittings and fixtures (however this can depend whether you’re insuring an apartment or a home)

Ovens and stovetops (as above, this can depend on whether it’s an apartment or home)

Landlord insurance goes one step further. It can protect you from financial loss caused by your tenants or their guests, including damage to your property, or unpaid rental payments. It’s important you review the policies carefully, however, as some policies may only cover your rent for a limited time.

What is home and contents insurance?

Just like health insurance policies that combine hospital and extras, home and contents insurance is a combined policy that includes features of both home insurance and contents insurance.
Home insurance covers the cost of rebuilding or repairing your home, protecting you from damage outside of your control, such as natural disasters (including storms and bushfires).
Contents insurance, on the other hand, focuses on your possessions, rather than the building. Not only are your clothes, jewellery, furniture, and others covered from natural disasters, depending on the policy they may also be protected from accidental damage and electrical surges.

What is covered by contents insurance?

Contents insurance covers the financial cost of repairing or replacing your household or personal possessions and furnishings. These can include the following:

Clothing

Jewellery

Toys

Furniture

Bedding

Curtains

Decorations

Computers

TV’s

Stereos

Fridges

Other electrical appliances

Tools

Sporting equipment

In some policies, accidental damage can be covered for these items, which means if you, a family member or a guest knocks something over or breaks something, you can make a claim to repair or replace it if required. You may also be able to arrange for protection even if certain items are lost, stolen, or damaged outside of your home.

What is the best home and contents insurance?

The best home and contents insurance ultimately depends upon your individual circumstances and requirements. There are a number of questions you should ask yourself, such as:

Do you rent or own the property?

How much would it cost to replace all of your items if you didn’t have insurance?

What’s the most expensive thing you own?

These questions will help you to determine whether you need home and contents, or just contents. It will also help you determine the rough amount you’d need to be comfortably covered, as well as the level of excess you’d be willing to pay.

How much contents insurance do I need?

Most people tend to underestimate how much coverage they need to replace or repair all of their contents, but when it’s all gone the cost of replacing it all can add up significantly. Before coming up with a figure, it’s recommended that you go from room to room and list all of your belongings.
You can then start working out how much it would cost to replace them. Taking photos of everything may also be useful should you need to make a claim with your insurance provider.
If you’re still unsure, iSelect have a contents calculator to help you estimate a monetary figure to cover the contents of your home.

How do you calculate home value for insurance?

When calculating your home value for home insurance, there are two main ways you can do so. The first is by calculating the cost per square metre. This is a rough guide based on the size of your house and the materials used. While this is a quick and simple way to get covered, it won’t take into account features of your home.
If you want more comprehensive home insurance, it may be worth calculating based on elemental estimating, which assesses in detail the different elements of your property. This process can take longer, but it will be a more personalised estimate.
Aside from the cost to rebuild your house, you should also consider the following ‘supplementary’ costs:

Alternative accommodation while your house is rebuilt

Removing debris from the site

Drawing up and lodging plans with your local council

It’s recommended you ask upon signing up with a new insurance provider whether these types of costs are covered as part of your policy.

How does contents insurance work?

Most contents insurance policies will cover your possessions if they’re lost or damaged, up until a sum insured amount. However, it’s important to note that most policies will only replace damaged or stolen items to their replacement value. For example, if your TV is stolen, your insurer will likely replace your TV with a like for like model, or pay you the amount it would cost to replace it for the same model. So it’s important to have an accurate estimate of the value of your contents, and ensure you’re paying for a level of cover that meets your needs.

What is renters insurance?

When you live in a rental, your landlord is responsible for any damage to the home, including the fixtures and fittings. This is often covered by their landlord insurance. Your contents, however, is not covered by this insurance.
In order to cover your contents, you’d need to take out a contents insurance policy. This would protect your possessions from any damage from natural disasters or even accidents caused by you, your family or your guests.

What is home and contents insurance ‘excess’?

Like with other types of insurance, such as car or travel insurance, home and contents insurance includes an excess payment. This is the fee you pay after making a claim in order to receive the benefits that your policy entitles you to. With home and contents insurance, you’re often reimbursed a monetary figure to cover your damages, so the excess is deducted from this figure.
In its most simple form, excess allows your policy provider to shift a small part of the financial risk back into your hands. In cases where the damage was not your fault (such as negligence from a landlord or builder), you may not be required to pay an excess, although this will be determined by your insurance provider.

*iSelect General Pty Ltd ABN 90 131 798 126, AFS Licence Number 334115. iSelect does not provide a comparison service for home and contents insurance. We provide a click through service and by clicking "Go To Site", you'll be directed to the website of your chosen home and contents provider. We receive a commission for each policy sold through the provider's website or contact centre.

Any advice provided by iSelect on this website is of a general nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. You need to consider the appropriateness of any information or general advice iSelect gives you, having regard to your personal situation, before acting on iSelect’s advice or purchasing any policy. You should consider iSelect's Financial Services Guide which provides information about our services and your rights as a client of iSelect. iSelect receives commission for each policy sold.